Fix Your Eyes On Eternity: A 12-Day Devotional On Heaven And The New EarthSample

Judging by what’s said at most funerals, you’d think nearly everyone’s going to Heaven. But Jesus made it clear that most people are not going to Heaven when He said the gateway to life is narrow and “only a few ever find it.” Heaven is not our default destination. (Wouldn’t it be tragic if you read about Heaven but didn’t end up going there?) Because we are sinners, we cannot enter Heaven as we are. There’s a huge gulf between us and God, and there’s nothing we can do to cross it, no righteous deed we can do that will earn us a place in Heaven (Titus 3:5). So unless our sin problem is resolved, the only place we will go is our true default destination…Hell.

We dare not “wait and see” when it comes to what’s on the other side of death. We can know, we should know, before we die. And because we may die at any time, we need to know now—not next month or next year.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, loved us so much that He became a man to deliver us from our sin (John 3:16). Jesus died on the cross as the only one worthy to pay the penalty for our sins demanded by the holiness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Being God, and therefore all-powerful, Jesus Christ rose from the grave, defeating sin and conquering death (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 54-57). When Christ died on the cross for us, He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The Greek word translated “it is finished” was commonly written across certificates of debt when they were canceled. It meant “paid in full.” 

Only when our sins are dealt with in Christ can we enter Heaven. We cannot pay our own way. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). “Salvation is found in no one else [but Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Christ’s death on the cross, and His resurrection, is the only bridge that crosses that chasm which separates us from God. To be forgiven, we must recognize and repent of our sins. Forgiveness is not automatic. It’s conditioned upon confession: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Christ offers to everyone the gift of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life (Revelation 22:17). So have you confessed your sins to the Father? asked Christ to forgive you? responded to the Spirit’s prompting and placed your trust in Christ’s death and resurrection on your behalf? 

If you have, who can you share the good news of Jesus with today?